Suspect in Salon Meritage killing to plead guilty, could still get death penalty

SANTA ANA >> The man accused of killing eight people inside the Salon Meritage in Seal Beach — the worst mass killing in Orange County history — will plead guilty, his attorney announced in court Monday.

Scott Dekraai is facing a possible death sentence for the Oct. 12, 2011, massacre. He is expected to enter the plea on Friday.

His attorney, Scott Sanders, said Dekraai decided to enter the plea to spare the victims’ families from enduring a trial. Sanders had said previously that Dekraai would be willing to plead guilty if prosecutors dropped the death penalty as a possible sentence.

Dekraai’s plea on Friday, however, will not include any deal with prosecutors, meaning he could still be sent to Death Row.

Sanders has been at the center of a weekslong hearing challenging the prosecution’s use of jailhouse informants — in Dekraai’s case and others. Prosecutors announced earlier they would not use a recording of Dekraai made by a jailhouse informant during the trial. Informant Fernando Perez made the recording in October 2011, about a week following the Oct. 12, 2011, massacre at the Salon Meritage.

Dekraai’s attorneys began seeking information about Perez and how he came to make the recording in January 2013. Those efforts ultimately led defense attorneys to file a more than 500-page legal motion in February 2014 alleging a conspiracy of government misconduct to seek to have the death penalty taken off the table, prevent jurors from hearing the recording and get the Orange County District Attorney’s Office booted from the case in favor of the state Attorney General’s Office.

Orange County Superior Court Judge Thomas Goethals has been hearing evidence on the motion since last month.

Dekraai is charged with eight counts of murder, including the special circumstance allegation of multiple murders and one count of attempted murder involving a woman who was shot at Salon Meritage but survived.

He is accused of walking into the salon and gunning down his 48-year-old ex-wife, Michelle Fournier, before opening fire on others inside the business.